Ventilated body support



June 23, 1936. E. LENZ, JR 2,045,036

VENTILATED BODY SUPPORT Filed May 18, 1934 3 Sheets-Sheetwl.

I L M a LV June 23, 1936. Y

C. E. LENZ', .JR

vENTLATED BODY SUPPORT 3 Sheetsmshearl 2 Filed May 18, 1954 Jme 23,1936. Q E, LENZ,JR 2,045,036

VENT ILATED BODY SUPPORT Patented June 23, 1936 UNI D STATE PATENTOFFICE 8, Claims.`

'IihisLi-nvention relates to new' and usefull improvementsirr.ventilated body supports, such as mattresses# and cushions ofthe innerspring type.

Among the several. objects of' my invention are to provide meanscontained; within themattress or other' body support for effecting aproper ventilation thereof' upon. downward pressure exacted: against:the mattress followed" by a release of such pressure;` toi provide aVentilating arrangement fon al mattressl wherein one-or morebellbwsare'llocated' within the mattress and functioir toi drawy iintothe bellows a volume of screened' on! release of' pressure from thematttcess and to, discharge said air from the bellows intoftheinterioror the mattress upon pressure being exerted thereon; toA provide one ormore bellows: which. can be readily mounted between the springsot themattress without reducing the number or the springs. or Withoutvchanging the usual arrangement thereof, and to provide such aVdevicewh-i'clr is Vsimple in construction, positive in operation, andcheap: tol manufacture;

thesefa'ndl` other objects in View which will more fully* appear, thenature of the invention wilt be more clearly understood byr followingthe descriptiom the appended claims, and the sevf eral' viewsillustrated inthe accompanyingL drawings. l Inl the drawings;- V jFigure 1i isa plan viewfof a mattressconstructedilih vacc-:ord'ancewithI my invention, a portion 'o'f the# covering being brokenl awaytobetterY disclose my` invention; A V

Figurer 2) is a vertical Vlorig'itudinal sectional viewtaken ona theline 2"--2- of` Figure 1,

,Figure 3 isa vertical' cross'sectional view taken bn the ime-r 3-3gfrisure ,1, Y

, Figure 4f isa plan View ofone of the bellows,

Figure is a plan View of a mattress showing a af modi'iied arrangementof the bellows, Y

Vligure 6L is' a similar View but showing a further modiication, i

' Fig-ure "lf a plan viewof a stillfurther modiftcation ofe a bellows;

'f Figure- 8f is an enlarged sectional view showing theairinl'etconstruction for the bellows,

` ,FigureV 9" is a detailed sectional view showing the* air/outletconstruction for the bellows,

Figureis: an enlarged detail view showing the' bellows' being connectedtothe top and bottom or a Spring',

Figure 1l is a plan view of a wire screen used in connection with theair inlet valve, and

Figure 1l2=`is a plan view showing a fabric screen associated with theair inlet valve.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, my invention includes an innercoil body support A such as a mattress or cushion, which comprises theusual rectangular wire frame 5 which supports a plurality of coilsprings 6 in the usual manner, said springs being arranged in the usuallongitudinal and transverse rows. This spring unit is completelyenclosed by a cover BL which comprises an intermediate layer Toi felt,hair, 0r sisal, or the like, and inner and outer layers 8 and lia ofcanvas or the like. Y p

By reference to Figures 1 to 4 particularly, I have positioned one ormore bellows C between certain longitudinal rows of springs 6. As shownin Figures 1, 2` andi 3, there are three of these bellows, one beingcentrallyv disposed with respect to the frame and the other two bei-nglocated adjacent the sides of the frame.V Each bellows is formed of afabric which is impervious to the passage of air, 'Ihe bellows isrelatively narrow and'extends substantially throughout `the length, ofthe frame A and has a depth substan'f tially equal to the height of thespring 6. At-V tached to the bellows is an` air inletV tube-,9 whichcommunicates with the interior of the bellows and with the atmosphereata point exteriorly of the mattress. Mounted in the tube 9 is an airinlet valve Ill of the spring ball type which permits air to, enter thebellows but prevents air from discharging therethrough. A tube 30 Ilextends through the cover B and is secured thereto by any suitablemeans. The aini'nlet tube B projects outwardly into the tube ll.V Thetube lll projects exteriorly of the cover B and is provided with athreaded end` for receiving a cap l2 having anair'inlet opening |53 andafresultant. inwardly extending flange IA.. A wire screen I5 and afabric screen lli are placed against each' other and are located betweenthe air opening l-3.A and the outer end of the tube lll, said screensI5V and` I-B being removably clamped in position between4 the flange`|4- and a; ring gasket I'lwhich bears against the outer end of the tubeIl. Each bellows C is provided with one or moreA airoutlet` tubes I8 inwhich is mounted an air valve |19' of the spring. ball type Vwhereby airmay bef forced outwardly from the bellows.- but will' be prevented fromentering the same. Each bellows C is secured atits top; and bottom tothe top andi bottomY portions` of the adjacent springs by tacking 2llfAandi 212 respectively or byany other suitable` means. Thus: when aspring is compressed the bellows will be correspondingly compressed! andwhen pressure islreiii' leased from the spring the bellows will returnto its normal position.

From the foregoing it will be observed that whenever a person exerts adownward force against the mattress the springs 6 will be compressed aswell as the adjacent bellows and as a result air which has beenpreviously drawn into the bellows through the air valve I0 will bedischarged from the bellows into the mattress through the air outletvalve I8, and when said pressure is released from the mattress thespring 6 and the bellows C will return to their normal positions therebydrawing into the bellows a new supply of screened air through the airinlet valve I0.

In Figure 5 I have illustrated a modified arrangement of the bellows. Inthis form I have disclosed three bellows which are arranged betweenadjacent transverse rows of springs, one of the bellows being centrallylocated while the other two are located adjacent the ends of themattress.

In Figure 6 I have disclosed a further modiiication of the bellowswherein a single bellows D is provided. This bellows is H-shaped in planview and includes two sections 22, 22 which extend longitudinally of themattress and a transverse connecting portion 23 which is integral withthe sections 22, 22.

In Figure 7 I have disclosed a still further modification of a bellows.In this form the bellowsl comprises three longitudinal sections 24, 25and 26 which are integrally connected at their ends to transversesections 21, 28.

`It is of course to be understood that the details of structure andarrangement of parts may be variously changed and modied withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of my invention. Y

I claim:

1. In a ventilated spring body support, the combination with a framehaving a plurality of coil springs, of a fabric cover enclosing thesame, a bellows mounted'within the cover, said bellows being providedwith a valved inlet for receiving air from the exterior of the coverupon expansion of the bellows and with an independent valved outlet fordirecting the air from the bellows into the interior of the support uponcollapsing of the bellows, and means to cause the bellows to becollapsed and expanded concomitantly with the compression and expansionof said springs.

2. In a ventilated spring body support, the combination with a framehaving a plurality of coil springs arranged in parallel rows, of afabric cover enclosing the same, a bellows mounted within the cover andbetween a pair of rows of said springs, said bellows being provided witha valved inlet for receiving air from the exterior of the cover uponexpansion of the bellows and with a valved outlet for directing the airfrom the bellows into the interior of the support upon collapsing of thebellows, and means to cause the bellows to be collapsed and expandedconcomitantly with the compression and expansion of said springs.

3. In a ventilated spring body support, the combination with a framehaving a plurality of coil springs arranged in transverse andlongitudinal rows, of a fabric cover enclosing the same, a plurality`of` bellowsmounted within the cover and between certain of said rows ofsprings, each of said bellows being provided with a valved inlet forreceiving air from the exterior of the cover upon expansion of thebellows and with a valved outlet for directing the air from the bellowsinto the interior of the support upon collapsing of the bellows, andmeans to cause the bellows to be collapsed and expanded concomitantlywith the compression and expansion of said springs.

4. In a ventilated spring body support, the combination with a framehaving a plurality of coil springs arranged in transverse andlongitudinal rows, of a fabric cover enclosing the same, a plurality ofbellows mounted within the cover and between certain of said rows ofsprings, each of said bellows being provided with a valved inlet forreceiving air from the exterior of the cover upon expansion of thebellows and with a valved outlet for directing the air from the bellowsinto the interior of the support upon collapsing of the bellows, atleast one of the bellows being located between a pair of longitudinalrows of springs and extending substantially throughout the length of thesupport, and at least another of the bellows being located between apair of transverse rows of springs and extending substantiallythroughout the width of the support, and means to cause the bellows tobe collapsed and expanded concomitantly with the compression andexpansion of said springs.

' 5. In a ventilated spring body support, the combination with a framehaving a plurality of coil springs, of a fabric cover enclosing thesame, and a bellows mounted within the cover, said bellows being formedof fabric impervious to the passage of air and provided with a valvedinlet for receiving air from the exterior of the cover upon release ofpressure from the bellows and with a' valved outlet for directing theair from the bellows into the interior of the support upon 3 pressureexerted on the bellows, said bellows being anchored to the tops andbottoms of certain of said springs and so proportioned relatively tosaid spring as to be positively expanded and collapsed by movement ofsaid springs.

v6. In a ventilated spring body support, the combination with a framehaving a plurality of coil springs arranged in parallel rows, of afabric cover enclosing the same, a bellows member positioned within thecover and extending longitudinally between rows of said springs, saidbellows being provided with a valved inlet for receiving air from theexterior of the cover upon release of pressure from the bellows and witha valved outlet for directing the air from the bellows into the interiorof the support when pressure is exerted on the bellows, and means otherthan natural resistance of the bellows to deforma- Ytion to positivelycause the bellows to expand and collapse as said springs extend or arecompressed by release or application of body pressure.

7. In a ventilated spring body support, the combination with a framehaving a plurality of coil springs arranged in parallel rows, of afabric cover enclosing the same, a bellows member posii tioned withinthe cover and extending longitudinally between rows of said springs,said bellows being provided with a valved inlet for receiving air fromthe exterior of the cover upon release of pressure`from the bellows andwith a valved outlet for directing the air from the bellows into theinterior of the support when pressure is exerted on the bellows, andmeans to anchor portions of the bellows to portions of said springs,vsaid bellows being so proportioned relatively to said springs that theanchoring of portions of the bellowswill cause it to expand and collapseas said springs extend or are compressed by release or application vofbody pressure.

8. In a ventilated body support comprising a hollow collapsible paddedbody, means within the body to yieldably retain the shape of the body, abellows within the hollow of the body and having back-cheek valvecommunication between the bellows interior and the exterior of thepadded body and like independent communication between the interior ofthe bellows and the interior of the padded body, and means to cause thebellows to collapse and expand concomitantly with the compression andexpansion of the padded body whereby to draw air into the bellows and tothereafter forcibly expel it into the interior of the padded body forultimate egress only through the walls of the padded body.

CHARLES EDWARD LENZ, JR.

